Hands-On with Windows 8.1: Windows Store

Looking over my complaints about the initial release of Windows 8/RT, the lack of scalability in the Windows Store app was among the most strident. As originally envisioned, Windows Store was a terrible, static, and category-driven experience. But in Windows 8.1, Windows Store has been reborn. And now we finally get the dynamic, beautiful and useful electronic storefront we wanted.

Here’s the new Store.

As noted previously in my post In Blue: Windows Store 2.0, the new app dispenses with the static user interfaces and seas of expressionless tiles to provide a more dynamic and attractive experience that is tailored to the individual. Ted Dworkin, the Director of Program Management for Windows Store, told me in a pre-Build briefing that the new Store was “hit driven, list driven and habit forming.” It’s powered by Bing and changes automatically over time.

I had mentioned the new app bar previously, but Dworkin pointed out something I missed that’s obvious in retrospect: The entire category-based UI of the original Store, which stretched out horizontally for screens and screens worth of information, is now replicated right in that app bar. Nice.

The new Store isn’t just about presentation, however. Now, it uses currency, not Microsoft Points. And you’ll be able to buy gift cards and add money to your account, just as you could previously buy blocks of Microsoft Points. This means you could, for example, load up a child’s account with a set amount of money so they could buy their own apps or games. (I assume those with existing MPs will see those converted to cash value.)

In the previous version of Windows Store, you would typically sign-in each morning and see a small number on the Store tile, indicating that that number of apps were ready to be updated. In Windows 8.1, you won’t see that number anymore as apps are auto-updated now. (You can disable this if you want.)

As with other built-in Modern apps, Microsoft is also now providing an in-app Search box, right from the main view, that lets you search the Store—and only the Store—using a context-sensitive tool with drop-down suggestions.

And the search results? They’re attractive, useful and easily filtered.

Overall, the changes to Windows Store are quite welcome. And while I’m still investigating a few purported changes that I don’t see yet in the Store UI—for example, that the PC limit for installed apps is going up past the current limit of 5—what’s available now in the Preview already makes a huge difference.

Discuss this Article 13

Playing around with it, this is a vast improvement. If I had to criticize something, it would be their choice of background. The lines and triangles are distracting and I think they should choose a more subtle backdrop.

Yeah, I just checked my wife's Windows 8 machine, and Store purchases are in dollars. The Windows 8 Store and Windows Phone 8 stores never used Microsoft Points, which was always annoying to me because I couldn't use Microsoft Point gift cards that I was given for Christmas for anything other than Zune music and Xbox 360 games.

Interestingly enough, the new Xbox Music app has added the ability to pay with Microsoft Points!

I really, really hate those separate search boxes. Store, Xbox Music, Fitness app, app list, etc. Before, you could launch the store and just start typing. Now you must click the search box first. They should have just put the search icon there (like in the mail app, click the icon and search charm opens). I hope they will fix this in the final release.

Apps such as "Alarms", "Reading List", "Sound Recorder" and Bing's "Food & Drink" & "Health & Fitness" are added to your list of owned apps, but must be installed.
I've run into some issues with a couple of apps...Sound Recorder, Calculator, Reading List. Hope the errors are cleared away soon so I can install and test these.
Anyone else running into these issues???

This is referring to the limit of 5 different machines having the same app installed. This used to be the maximum (such as 3 installs of MS office per license), and they are choosing, it would seem, to increase this limit.

This never meant you could only install X or Y number of apps, but instead, install an app over X machines.

I wonder why you don't mention my maybe most favorite change: you can now select multiple apps from the "My Apps" view and install them all at once. Awesome. And makes sense as you can also delete multiple apps at once now.